Shofar FTP Archive File: imt/tgmwc/tgmwc-05/tgmwc-05-47.04

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Last-Modified: 1999/10/05
In paragraph 4, the Tribunal will note that a special court
of summary jurisdiction, similar to those which functioned
in Holland, was set up in Luxembourg; that it functioned in
that country and pronounced a certain number of death
sentences, twenty-one-all of them equally arbitrary, in view
of the arbitrary character of the court which pronounced
such sentences.
On Page 54 is contained the official accusation made by the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg against all members of the Reich
Cabinet, specifically against the Ministers of the Interior,
of Justice, and the Party Chancellery, against the leaders
of the SS and Police, and particularly against those of the
Reich Commission for the Strengthening of Germanism
(Reichskommissariat fur die Festigung des Deutschen
Volkstums).
In the case of Norway, Document UK-19, already submitted as
Exhibit
[Page 313]
RF 326, shows, in the third paragraph, at the middle of Page
55 of the document book, that a tribunal similar to that
special tribunal in Holland, composed of police, was in
operation in Norway. It was called the SS Court. More than
150 Norwegians were condemned to death. That is the
penultimate paragraph on that page.
Besides, the Tribunal will remember the testimony of M.
Cappelen, who came before you to relate what his country and
his compatriots had endured.
In the case of Denmark, on Page 57 of your document book,
Document F-666, already submitted as RF-278, Page 57, the
Tribunal will note that, according to this official report
submitted by the Danish Government, police courts-martial
similar to those which functioned in Luxembourg, in Norway
and in Holland, also functioned in Denmark. These summary
police courts composed of SS or police officers, in reality
cloaked the arbitrariness of the police and of the SS, the
arbitrariness not only tolerated but even intended by the
Government, as can be shown by documents which we have
placed before you at the beginning of this presentation.
We, therefore, can assert that the victims of those courts
were murdered without having been able to justify or defend
themselves.
In France the question should be carefully examined. The
Tribunal knows that from the very moment of landing,
answering the call of the General Staff, the French Secret
Army rose and began to fight. Undoubtedly, in spite of the
warning given by the Allied General Staff, these combatants,
at the beginning, found themselves in a rather irregular
situation. We do not contest that in many instances they
were francs-tireurs, we admitted that they could be
condemned to death; but we protest that they were not
condemned to death, but were assassinated after having been
brutally tortured. We are going to give you proof thereof.
Document F-577, which is submitted as Exhibit RF 395, is to
be found on Page 62 of your document book. It states that on
17th August, on the eve of the liberation of Rodez, the
Germans shot 30 patriots with a submachine gun. Then, to
finish them off, they detached large stones from the wall of
the trench in which they were and hurled them on the bodies,
with a little earth. Their chests and skulls were crushed.
Document F-580, Page 79 of your document book, which was
submitted to you as Exhibit RF 396, shows that five oblates
from the order of Marie - to my knowledge these lay brothers
were not communists - were assassinated after having been
tortured, because they belonged to a group of the Secret
Army. Thirty-six corpses in all were discovered after this
execution, a punitive measure carried out by the German
Army.
On Page 85 the Tribunal will read the result of the inquiry
and will see how these five oblates, after having been
tortured, were killed, and how the Staff of the Resistance
group, which had been betrayed, was arrested and deported
together with a few members of the same religious order.
In the fourth paragraph, starting from the bottom of the
page, the proof is before you that the Maquis from the
forest of Acheres were arrested and tortured after having
been incarcerated in the prison of Fontainebleau. We even
know the name of the German member of the Gestapo who
tortured those patriots. His name is unimportant. Korf
carried out the orders that were given by Keitel, and by
others whose names were mentioned a while ago.
Document F-584, Page 87 - which becomes Exhibit RF 397, and
the Tribunal will find it on Page 87-88 - shows the Tribunal
that, when the bodies were found, it was discovered that
ten of these men had been blindfolded before being shot,
that eight had had their arms broken, by blows or torture,
and many had wounds in the lower parts of their legs as a
result of the tightness with which
[Page 314]
they had been bound. That was the report of the Police
Commissar, drawn up on 28 August 1944, on the day following
the liberation of Pau.
We now present Document F-585, which will be Exhibit RF 398,
the Tribunal will find it on Page 96 of the document book. I
summarise:
The day following the liberation, 38 corpses were found in
two graves near Signes in the mountain of Var. One of the
leaders of the Resistance of the Cote d'Azur, Valmy, and
with him two parachutists, Pageout and Manuel, were
identified. There was witness of this massacre - his name
is Quirot - whose statements are transcribed on Pages 11 and
12 of Document 505, Pages 105, 106 and 107 of your document
book.
Quirot was tortured, together with his comrades, without
having been given the opportunity of having counsel or
chaplain. The thirty-eight men were taken to the woods. They
appeared before a parody of a court made up of SS, were
condemned to death, and executed.
We place now before the Tribunal Document F-586 as Exhibit
RF 399. The Tribunal will find it on Page 110 of the
document book. It deals with the execution at Saint Nazaire
and Royans of thirty-seven patriots, members of the French
Secret Army, who were tortured before being executed. The
Tribunal will read on Page 110, at the beginning of
paragraph 2, the statement of facts by one of the eye-
witnesses.
"I came through the ruins and I arrived at the Chateau of
Mine. Laurent, a widow. There a frightful spectacle
confronted me. The castle, which the Gestapo had used as
a place of torture of the young Maquis, had been set on
fire. In a cellar there was a calcined skeleton of a man
who, prior to death, had had his forearms and a foot
pulled off and who had perhaps been burned while still
alive."
But I proceed. Wherever the Gestapo was in operation the
same horrors are encountered.
Now we place before the Tribunal Document F-699, which
relates to the assassination at Grenoble of forty-eight
members of the Secret Army, all of whom were tortured. It is
submitted as Exhibit RF 400. It begins on Page 112 of your
document book.
I now come to Document F-587, which we place before you as
Exhibit RF 401. The Tribunal will find this document on Page
115 of the document book. It concerns the execution at
Nimes, by hanging, of twelve patriots, two of whom were
dragged from the hospital where they were under care for
battle wounds. All these young men had been captured in
combat at St. Hippolyte-du-Fort (paragraph 4 of Page 115).
The corpses of these wretched men were profaned. On their
chests had been written: "Thus are French terrorists
punished." When the French sought to give the last honours
to these unfortunate men the corpses had disappeared. The
German Army had removed them. They have never yet been
discovered. It is a fact that two of these victims were
dragged from the hospital. Document F-587 contains the
report of a witness who saw the men taken from the hospital
where they were being cared for.
I place before you now Document F-561 as Exhibit RF 402. It
is found on Page 118 of your book. It deals with the
execution in Lyons of one hundred arid nine patriots who
were shot under inhuman conditions. They were killed at the
end of a day's toil. On 14 August Allied planes had bombed
the Brou airfield and from 16 to 22 August the German
authorities had compelled civilians and internees at the
Fort of Montluc at Lyons to fill the bomb craters. At the
end of the day, when the work was finished (this is at the
end of paragraph 2) the civilian labourers went away, but
the internees were shot on the spot, after having been more
or less ill-treated.
Their bodies were stacked in craters which had not yet been
filled in.
[Page 315]
Document F-591, which we submit as Exhibit RF 403 and which
appears on Page 199 of the document book before the
Tribunal, is a report of atrocities committed by the German
Army on 30 August 1944 at Tavaux in Aisne.
"During the afternoon of that day soldiers of the Adolf
Hitler Division arrived at Tavaux. They appeared at the
home of M. Maujean, who was the leader of the
Resistance. His wife opened the door. Without
explanation they shot at her, wounding her in the thigh
and also in the lower jaw. They dragged her to the
kitchen; they broke one arm and one leg. In the presence
of her children, aged nine, eight, seven, six years and
eight months, they poured an inflammable liquid over her
and set fire to her. The elder child held his little
sister, eight-months old, in his arms. Then they told
the children that they were going to shoot them if they
did not tell where their father was. The children said
nothing, although they knew the whereabouts of their
father. They were led down into the cellar. They were
locked in. Then the Germans poured gasoline on the house
and set it on fire. The fire was put out and the
children were saved. These facts were stated to M.
Maujean by the eldest child. No other person was a
witness to these facts because the inhabitants,
frightened by the first houses set on fire, had sought
refuge either in trenches or in the neighbouring fields
and woods."
During the same evening twenty-one persons were killed
at Tavaux and eighty-three houses were set on fire."
On the following page there is a report transmitted by the
gendarme, Carlier, on the day following the events.
On Page 121 the Tribunal will find French Document F-589,
which we submit as Exhibit RF 404. This document shows the
provisional figures of murders of patriots committed in the
region of Lyons, under date of 25 September 1944:
"713 victims have been found in eight departments, 217
only have been identified.
This figure is approximate; it is definitely less than
the number of people who are missing in the eight
departments of Ain, Areche, Drome, Isere, Loire, Rhone,
Savoie, Haute Savoie."
A German general, General von Brodowski, has confessed in
his diary, which fell into our hands, that he had caused the
assassination of numerous patriots and that the Wehrmacht,
Police and SS, operating simultaneously, were equally
responsible for these murders. These troops murdered wounded
men in hospital camps of the French Forces of the Interior.
This document, which is Number F-257, is submitted as
Exhibit RF 405, and is to be found on Page 123 of your
document book.
On Page 125 the police and the army are combined. Paragraph
2 (fourth from the bottom):
"I have been charged with the restoration of the
authority of the Army of Occupation in the department of
Cantal." Dated 6 June 1944.
Paragraph 5: - "General Jesser has been charged with the
tactical direction of the undertaking. All troops.
available for the operation will be subordinate to him,
as well as all other forces."
Paragraph 6: - " The Commander of the Sipo and of the
SD, Hauptsturmfuehrer Geissler, remains at my immediate
disposal. He will submit proposals for the possible
intervention ... " and so forth.
The last paragraph: - "The staff and two battalions of a
regiment of SS Panzer Division 'Das Reich' are, in
addition, to remain available for the operation in
Cantal."
Then - on Page 127 - this general turned over some wounded
prisoners to the SD which was equivalent to their execution
without sentence. These
[Page 316]
prisoners were wounded on 15 June 1944. The Prefect of Le
Puy asked the liaison staff whether the men wounded in the
battle of Montmouchet and taken into safety by the Red Cross
of Puy could be delivered to Puy as prisoners of war. . .
The German general executing the orders of the German High
Command, particularly of Keitel and Jodl, said: "These men
are to be treated as ' francs-tireurs ' and are to be
delivered to the SD or to the Abwehr."
These wounded men were turned over to the German Police and
tortured and killed without trial.
Page 129: Execution without trial according to the statement
of Colbert, of which we have just spoken. Any man turned
over to the SD is to be executed without trial.
On 21 June 1944, events took place as indicated by Colbert.
Paragraph 4, at the end -
"Twelve suspects were arrested and turned over to the
SD."
Under the date of 16 August 1944, Page 133, this general of
the German Army calls for the assassination of 40 men after
combat at Bourg-Lashe and at Cosnat. This is the second
paragraph of Page 11 of the document.
"In the course of operation Jesser on 15 July in the
Bourg-Lashe region twenty-three persons were executed
(martial law). Attack on Cosnat, three kilometres east
of St. Hilaire, during the night of 17 July, forty
terrorists were shot down."
On Page 136: - This German general admits in his own journal
that our comrades were fighting as soldiers and not as
assassins.
Paragraph 5: This general of the German Army acknowledges
that the French Forces of the Interior took prisoners.
" South-east of d'Argenton, thirty kilometres South-west
of Chateauroux, the 'Jako' discovered a centre of
terrorists. Sixteen German soldiers were liberated; arms
and ammunition were captured. Seven terrorists were
killed, two of them captains. One German soldier was
seriously wounded."
Another similar incident is related on Page 137, at the very
top of the page.
"Discovery of two camps of terrorists in the region of
d'Argenton. Nine of the enemy were killed, two of whom
were officers. Sixteen German soldiers were liberated."
At the bottom of the page is stated:
"We liberated two SS men."
The soldiers were entitled to the respect of their
adversaries. They conducted themselves as soldiers; they
were assassinated.
I shall conclude, Mr. President, if the Tribunal will give
me five minutes. I will only need one hour to present the
remainder of my case this afternoon.
THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now until 1400 hours.
(A recess was taken)
MARSHAL OF THE COURT: May it please the Court, I desire to
announce that the defendants Kaltenbrunner and Seyss-Inquart
will be absent from this afternoon's session on account of
illness.
M. DUBOST: We had arrived, gentlemen, at the presentation of
the terrorist policy carried out by the German Army, Police
and SS, indistinguishably united in their evil task against
the French patriots.
Not only the militant patriots were to be the victims of
this terrorist policy. There were threats of reprisals
against their relatives, and these threats were carried out
in deeds.
We place before you Document 719 PS, as Exhibit RF 406,
which your Tribunal will find on Page 147 of the document
book. It is a pencilled note
[Page 317]
from the German Embassy in Paris, to the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in Berlin. The German Ambassador reports a
conversation which the Vichy echelon had with Laval.
In the fourth paragraph, the last three lines, the author of
this note, who is probably Abetz, explains that Bousquet,
who was with Laval at the time of this conversation, stated
that he was completely ignorant of the recent flight of
Giraud's brother.
"Madame Giraud, three of her daughters, her mother and
another brother of the general, and his daughter-in-law are
reported to be at the camp of Valse-les-Bains. I replied
that such measures were insufficient and that it would not
be surprising if the German police some day took these
matters into its own hands, in view of the obvious
incompetence of the French police in numerous cases."
The threat was put into execution. We have already stated
before you that the family of General Giraud had been
deported.
We place before you Document 717, as Exhibit RF 407, Page
149 of your document book.
"Paris, 1030 hours, Official State Telegram, Paris, to the
French Delegation of IMT, Nuremberg."
From this telegram it is evident that 17 persons, members of
the family of General Giraud, were deported to Germany:
Madame Granger, daughter of General Giraud, aged 32, was
arrested without cause in Tunis in April 1943, as well as
her four children, aged two to eleven years, with their
young nurse, and her brother-in-law, M. Granger. They were
first deported to Berlin, then to Thuringia. General
Giraud's family, too, was arrested on 9 October 1943.
May I ask the forbearance of the Tribunal ; the telegraphic
style is not easy to interpret.
"First to Berlin and then to Thuringia, the women and
children of M. Granger to Dachau."
I suppose that we must understand this to mean the wife of
M. Granger and the nurse who accompanied her.

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